1,515; Sweet Child of “Mine”

** I wrote this letter to our sweet child on October 3rd, but only decided to post it today on their estimated date of delivery 10/10/2018.

No I’m not in labor yet.

Yes I’m doing well.

Greg and I are just trying to savor these moments as a duo,

even though were simultaneously stoked to become a trio.

In any case after that little spiel /SHpēl/ ,

enjoy reading this letter

that is just a mixture of encouragement and lyrics and words of wisdom

to this sweet child of ours that has yet to make an appearance:

Dear Sweet Child of Ours,

Not sure when you’ll get around to reading this, or maybe you’ll have it read to you.

Maybe on a birthday.

Maybe we’ll give it to you on just a random day of the week that we happen to randomly remember for no reason in particular that we wrote this for you years ago.

Writing this a week before the doctors estimated date of your arrival, they say your eta is October 10th 2018, but you take your time.

You arrive whenever you’d like.

Writing this as we eagerly anticipated your arrival.

This life you’re about to make an appearance in…

is much like this process of waiting we’re in to deliver you.

Full of unknowns.

I think God could have made labor delivery and birth’s cookie cutter

one size fits all

calculated

so we would know just when to expect you.

But we don’t know, and you’ll discover in life that as humans we like to know.

Maybe that’s part of what makes anticipation so exciting.

A few things I think you should know,

Your papai loves Rock and Roll.

I like to write.

We have no idea how to parent, so you can fully expect for us to not get it right.

We’re sure your tios + aunts, grandparents, and other family friends will fill you with stories that will have you keeling over with side splitting laughter of how much we are winging this whole thing.

But we have a lot of love to give.

So whether we’re annoying you

or your proud to be our kid one day

or whatever the case may be,

know this:

we love you.

You’re our sweet child

and you’re about to ( so we’ve heard) change our whole life.

which by the way -much like life- is terrifying and exhilerating!

There are so many songs that we listen to, to think of you,

but this one ( Sweet Child of Mine by Guns ‘n’ Roses)

was because of your daddy’s love for rock and roll

… and because I played it on repeat as I wrote this letter.

We have no idea what to expect or how to do this,

so if you ever feel like that,

know that you’re not alone in feeling that way.

We’ve all felt that way.

I’m sure by know you’re familiar with Dave Matthew’s Band

(especially since you’ve been listening to them since the womb )

so make no mistake there will be days you feel like whats happening?!?

but there are days

that you’re just overcome with the truth

from that lyric from DMB’s Two Step

” life is short but sweet for certain”

Another thing we’ve learned;

life is way better with the people who want to stand by you

Listen to the pretenders ” I’ll stand by you”.

Let it inspire you to believe in people to be there for you,

and to let them into your life.

People come and go in seasons,

and we dont know how long we’ll be here to stand by you

but people oh people they drive us crazy but there are so many good ones.

That make us better.

That help us.

That make life sweeter

and more fun.

People who stick around

and people who forgive us

and people who ask forgiveness

and people who hold us

and people who teach us

and people who you’ll love

and people who you’ll lose

and people that remind us who we are when we’ve forgotten.

The struggle of finding your people is REAL.

At first it may be tricky to figure out

who genuinely wants to be a part of your life,

versus who’s a part of your life out of convenience

Use the discernment and wisdom you’ve been given,

to set apart the people who make you a priority

versus the people who make you an option.

You’re not optional, you are purposeful.

So even though our whole mission in life is to love everybody, always,

we still get to decide which people we let in day to day

we still get the choice of figuring out who becomes our people.

All this to say,

even though the search for your people is hard and ever changing

even so…

its’ so worth it.

Sweet Child of ours, we need people.

We need each other.

Look for the people that will stand by you, the helpers, the healers,

and when the pickings for people seem slim…

dont lose hope

because

lastly,

Jesus.

From your first to last breath.

He loves you and He guides you.

He’s the best

and before you are and were this sweet child of “ours”

you were His.

You are His.

He knows ALL about you as I sit here and type on this day

” Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.”